How Wabanaki people describe pain during recovery
Official title: Understanding Pain Expression in Wabanaki People during Recovery: Enhancing Wabanaki Research, Data Self-Determination, and Capacity Development
Funded at Wabanaki Health and Wellness · NIH-11375339 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project helps Wabanaki communities build secure tools and training so people in recovery can clearly share how they experience pain.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wabanaki Health and Wellness NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Bangor, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $372,921 |
| NIH project number | 3OT2DA061133-01S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11375339 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are Wabanaki adults in recovery from opioid or stimulant use or those living with acute or chronic pain who want to take part in community-led research.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not part of Wabanaki communities or who have no interest in local research capacity building are unlikely to see direct benefits from this project.
What this research studies
As a Wabanaki person in recovery, this project will help my community set up a secure, HIPAA-compliant REDCap system at Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness so our health stories can be captured safely. Local WPHW staff will be trained to become REDCap experts and to deliver a research training curriculum adapted for community members. That will let us design and run community-led projects about how Wabanaki people express and cope with pain during recovery while keeping control of our data. The effort is meant to boost community research literacy and create the infrastructure for future studies that involve people like me.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could give Wabanaki people more control over research and lead to pain care and support that better reflect our recovery experiences.
How similar studies have gone: Community-led capacity building and local use of REDCap have helped other communities run patient-centered research, but applying this specifically to Wabanaki pain expression is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Wabanaki Health and Wellness
Bangor, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Neptune-Bear, Selena — Wabanaki Health and Wellness
- Study coordinator: Neptune-Bear, Selena
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.